[MERGED] Call centre blues

Apparently, some people get quite abusive when they discover the call-centre they're talking to is in India.

I must admit that I'd prefer a Scottish accent (where it seems all the non-Indian call-centres are) to an Indian one, simply because it's easier to understand.

I don't like the way that companies have moved the call-centres overseas simply for cost reasons. If they felt that strongly about cost, they'd move their entire operation overseas - but I don't suppose the senior managers or the board fancy that. But they don't mind putting hundres of people out of work here.

Still, it really doesn't make sense to abuse the call-centre staff, or to boycott them - it might be that the company only has Indian call-centre staff - how else are you going to get your inquiry dealt with?

Originally Posted by ScaredWebWarrior

Apparently, some people get quite abusive when they discover the call-centre they're talking to is in India.

I must admit that I'd prefer a Scottish accent (where it seems all the non-Indian call-centres are) to an Indian one, simply because it's easier to understand.

I don't like the way that companies have moved the call-centres overseas simply for cost reasons. If they felt that strongly about cost, they'd move their entire operation overseas - but I don't suppose the senior managers or the board fancy that. But they don't mind putting hundreds of people out of work here.

Still, it really doesn't make sense to abuse the call-centre staff, or to boycott them - it might be that the company only has Indian call-centre staff - how else are you going to get your inquiry dealt with?

I never take it out on the person on the end of a phone. They are only doing there job. However i dont like using call centre's in India for the following reasons.

Security of my data.
Accent problems.
Volume of the line " often very very low"
Loss of work to other countries.

I will dump any company that uses India call centres as soon as

I find out the call centre is in India.
As soon as my contract runs out.

[Gareth]

I dislike off-shoring (I don't have anything against Indians in particular, China, Czech Republic, etc... do it too) types of work that can and should be done in the UK. Having worked for many years in the IT and consultancy industries, I've seen this first hand, and have been directly affected by it too. It's been going on for ages in IT that it's now gone full-circle and companies that had outsourced years ago are now finding that it's not as rosey as they had thought it would be and are instead starting to in-source those departments again.

However, I see one of the causes of outsourcing all around me every day of the week, yet people are often unaware they're playing a part. Even on here, you always get people demanding prices are lowered, which means that costs need to be cut somewhere. Admittedly, it's a lot more complex than this, but constantly demanding lower and lower prices for products and services only makes the offshoring option seem more attractive. If people were prepared to not necessarily pay the lowest price possible, I think things could be different.

Show your disliking, like Bill and I do, by choosing wherever possible those companies that don't offshore, even if that means paying more than you would otherwise. Just my

[Russ]

Originally Posted by ScaredWebWarrior

I must admit that I'd prefer a Scottish accent (where it seems all the non-Indian call-centres are) to an Indian one, simply because it's easier to understand.

You find a Scottish accent easier to understand??

When I used to have Sky I'd dread speaking to their CS - the people themselves were certainly friendly and helpful but their deciphering their accent was like trying to drive through thick fog.

However Indian callcentres....I admit I get very frustrated with them. Only yesterday my BB connection died and I called ntl's tech support and got through to a 'Shikha' who was absolutely abysmal and I ended up raising my voice a few times as I simply was not getting anywhere with her. First of all she couldn't understand my postcode. I gave her my address 4 times simply because she couldn't understand the concept of my house number being '1a' - she kept asking if I was saying "one-eight" regardless of the fact I was saying the 'a' phonetically. I timed the call - after 9 minutes she still couldn't find my account. She couldn't understand my MAC address either, so when I told her I want to speak to someone else, she claimed the reason she couldn't understand what I was saying was because it was a 'bad line' - rubbish.

3 times I asked for a superviser and she refused to pass me on. Yes I was starting to get really snappy, and if Indian callcentre workers get upset by this then either they raise their game or they leave the job. It is not for the caller to adapt to the callcentre worker, it's the other way around and if they cannot or will not do this then they can have no complaints when the caller gets annoyed with them.

[andygrif]

Originally Posted by Bill C

I never take it out on the person on the end of a phone. They are only doing there job. However i dont like using call centre's in India for the following reasons.

Security of my data.
Accent problems.
Volume of the line " often very very low"
Loss of work to other countries.

I will dump any company that uses India call centres as soon as

I find out the call centre is in India.
As soon as my contract runs out.

Personally I'm not as concerned with the fact that the call centre is in India, more so that the concept of off-shoring call centres produces an utterly inflexible process of communication. And this isn't a criticism of the people at the end of the phone, but the people in charge in the UK and the processes that they have put into place - which the outsources call centres HAVE to adhere to. And we're seeing that more in the UK call centres now too, where companies employ third parties to run the centres.

It shows contempt for the customer, it shows an aparent lack of understand of consumer needs and clearly identifies these companies as second or third rate.

Personally I couldn't care less about where the call centre is based, as long as they can sort my problem out and not do everything in their power to annoy me. In fact I'd rather speak to a decent call centre in India than a poor one in the UK.

Although Bill, you make a very good poinbt about the security of data. Although the cost of employing staff in India is much lower than the UK, these guys are generally very well educated and comparatively well paid. Saying that, organised crime gangs can offer (again comparatively) huge sums of money to extract sensitive information from the systems. This is a big deal, one that needs to be regulated by the government IMHO.